


Leave Them Stunned and Stuttering

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Series: Let The Spectrum In [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Beyond canon-typical violence, Character Study, Gen, Hey did you miss those tags? I did, Honestly these children, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Team Bonding, Violence, five things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-08
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-22 09:36:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7430417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Times Shiro couldn't be knocked off balance,  one time he was, and one time he trusted the team to see.</p><p>Or, when sibling bonding goes wrong.  </p><p>(Standalone story: You do NOT need to read the previous in the 'series' for this)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Plan Is Hatched

**Author's Note:**

> As I said at the end of the last fic, this will be in the same continuity as the other Five Things fics I write, unless otherwise noted.
> 
> She/her pronouns for Pidge, reasons in the previous part of the series.
> 
> Will once again be updated daily. The chapters are shorter, but there are more of them this time, so hey, works out?
> 
> If you have an idea for a Five Things you'd like to see, feel free to leave me a comment or hit me up at Chaoticreactions.tumblr.com.

Maintenance of the lions was, by universal agreement, communal time. Any time one was down, the others probably at least needed work and cleaning, and with the need for them so great, the whole team spent a lot of time working on them. Rather than keep repairs to the separate hangers, unless the lion was too damaged to move, they’d taken over the general bay. Once upon a time, it had been used for the comings and goings of more typical ships. But they were either gone or had deteriorated long ago, and they weren’t entertaining much air traffic that they wanted to invite inside anymore. Maybe someday that would change, but for now there was no reason not to use the space to work together.

Of course, with five huge mechanical lions and all the gear needed to care for them, the bay had become a bit... messy.

And loud.

Hunk paused his soldering on the yellow lion, eyes closed and head tilted upward, like he was asking for strength. “It never ends,” he groaned.

It had started with Lance, who was basically never able to work in perfect silence. It was something Hunk was long since used to: either he was talking or he was listening to music. The music was fine, usually. It was something fun and danceable from his home, energetic and honestly good for working to. He still didn’t know the name of the song, but he knew it by heart from hearing Lance play it while working on homework so many times.

Unfortunately, Lance had apparently decided his own headphones weren’t enough. Likely, he hadn’t been able to hear it over the clanging and machinery of getting the lions back in top shape. So he’d cut out the middle man and started playing it over the control speakers around his area.

But when Lance did that, it was permission for everyone else to do it too.

Hunk hadn’t bothered himself, because he was so used to Lance’s music that at this point it was comforting to him too. And Pidge hadn’t, probably because she was so focused on her work that it could have switched to screamo heavy metal and she wouldn’t have noticed at all. And Shiro - well, who knew what he would have played if he had access. He never asked any of the rest of them what they had.

But Keith had apparently picked up on the idea. And his idea of good working had a lot of wailing guitar and mumbled, aggressive lyrics.

Apparently taking this as an afront, Lance had turned his up louder, trying to drown out Keith’s music. And it might have been out of a competitive drive, or simply obliviously trying to listen to his own music, but Keith hadn’t even looked back as he turned his own up to match.

Then, suddenly, Lance turned his music off. Sighing in relief, Hunk rubbed his ears. He prefered Lance’s music to Keith’s, but the two of them clashing over each other was worse than anything else.

Glancing up, he saw Pidge start, probably registering the lack of noise after the slowly growing crescendo, and Shiro seemed to relax as he was no longer forced to intercede.

Really, every single one of them should have been on high alert. Instead, they were all startled as the blue lion’s jaw opened, and instead of the roar, Lance’s music started to play at an ear-splitting volume.

Everyone jumped. And since they were working on the lions, which usually involved at least some level of connection, so did they. The yellow lion jumped to its feet, tail lashing. In the air, that wasn’t a problem, but in the confined space the hanger it certainly was. It smacked the green lion, making Pidge lose her grip on the lion’s flank. Her safety harness caught her, but not before it tangled and caught on exposed machinery, leaving her unable to go up or down. Her lion shifted in response, stance getting wider and more stable, and the back foot crashed into one of the computer panels against the wall. All the lights flared and then went dead.

Finally, both music came to a sudden stop and there was a long, guilty silence. Visibly sighing, Shiro put on his helmet. “Lance. Out of the lion. Everyone else, get down here.” He paused, then glanced up. “Need help, Pidge?”

“No,” she replied, distinctly guilty. It wasn’t the first time all of them had been warned about keeping their harness lines clear, and they’d all rolled their eyes at the reminders. They were Academy students. Of _course_ they knew that. She struggled with the knot for another moment, then gave up and cut herself loose with her bayard, using the rockets on the arms to make a safe, steady landing.

Already anticipating the safety lecture to end all safety lectures, Hunk sat yellow down with a sigh, preparing to get out. Unfortunately, he didn’t check behind him, and the haunches landed the edge of a table, sending the contents shooting off at speed, like the universe’s worst catapult.

A wrench missed Shiro’s head by just a foot or two, instead smacking into the black lion’s foot. It fell to a floor with a clatter.

Another, longer silence, as Shiro glanced back at where the wrench had landed, and then back at the yellow lion. His expression didn’t change at all, except for one brow slowly raising. Hunk hurried down as quickly as he could.

The next two hours was spent just being talked to. Shiro never yelled, never even raised his voice, but there were all left chastised and thoroughly aware of the importance of work space safety.

Once Shiro had stalked back out, not glancing back once, they’d been left alone to stew. The second the door closed behind him, Lance took a breath to speak.

Pidge jabbed her elbow into his side. “Don’t even say it. Whatever it is. It’s your fault we’re all in trouble.”

“My fault!” Lance scowled. “Keith started it with his obnoxious whine crap music.”

Scowling, Keith crossed his arms. “I didn’t start anything. You were listening to music, so I did too. Who put you in charge of the hanger music?”

Hunk groaned. “No. No way am I listening to you argue _again_ after we just got lectured. Shut up or do it somewhere else.” He rubbed his temples.

Crossing his own arms, Lance huffed. “I wasn’t even- look, what I was _going_ to say was... did you see Shiro’s face when the wrench came out him?”

“He didn’t look like anything,” Pidge shot back. “What’s your point?”

Lance’s lips curled up mischievously. A pavlovian shiver of dread went up Hunk’s spine. “If he didn’t react to a wrench flying at his face, what would he react to?”

There was silence as they considered that. They’d seen Shiro have emotions, sure. He’d snap, he’d freeze, he’d scowl, even occasionally blush. But it was rare to see him really... stumble. Mess up. He was terrifyingly competent, honestly. They’d all complained about it before, though not to his face. Some things just weren’t done.

“Are you really suggesting we try and get in more trouble?” Hunk asked, but he couldn’t help but be curious himself. “Do we want to make Shiro mad after that?”

Lance flapped a dismissive hand at him. “We’re already in trouble. What’s the worst that can happen to us? And besides, I don’t mean do anything _wrong_. Just get him flustered. There’s gotta be a way.”

“Like what?” Keith asked. He was still scowling, but the tilt of his head and loosening of his posture gave away his curiosity.

Grinning back, all teeth and amusement, Lance leaned back comfortably. “Leave it to the master.”


	2. Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swing, Daddy-o

It was a while before Lance got to enact his plan. Part of it was that, okay, he kind of didn’t want to push it when Shiro was already in super-responsible-leader mode. And part of it was a mission that involved several days, sneaking around at night, and less sleep than any reasonable person should be getting while piloting a giant mechanical lion robot. So he’d needed some downtime after.

After, it was just a matter of waiting for the right moment.

It had come in the afternoon one day. There were no practice drills to be running, no crises to be fixing, no Galra fleets at the door. Just a few hours worth of downtime.

Usually, this was where everyone split into doing their own projects. But for once, they were all clustered together in the rec room. Pidge and Hunk were chipping away at Rover 2.0 (Lance was still fighting to get it named ‘Fido’ instead), Shiro and Keith were pouring over some plan or schematic or whatever it is that kept Keith busy when he wasn’t bothering Lance. Which meant Lance could sprawl out on the couch next to Shiro, a book on hand, and just wait.

It was torture to be patient for the right opening, and he was considering making his own when it finally happened.

“Hey, Lance?” Shiro called gesturing for him to come closer.

Smirking widely, he caught Pidge and Hunk’s eyes and waggled his brows, then sat closer. “Yes, Dad?”

Shiro froze, brow furrowed. He glanced back at Lance, who was smiling back as innocently as possible. “Sorry, what?”

“Oh, sorry,” Lance replied, completely insincere. “I mean... yes, _Daddy?_ ” He managed to purr the word, leaning into Shiro’s personal space.

For one perfect second, Shiro’s eyes were round and shocked. But then Lance saw the exact moment Shiro figured out that he was being messed with, and instead they narrowed. Then he smiled.

Lance hadn’t considered the fact that Shiro could turn this around on him at all. At he realized that, if Shiro decided to play along and flirt back, it would _wreck_ him. He had no defences for it, and had doven in completely unarmed for that possibility.

But then Shiro did something worse.

Clapping his shoulder, Shiro gave him a smile that showed just a hint of teeth. “Speaking of fatherly activities,” he started, and Lance paled. Uh oh. “I haven’t checked up on you after the... music incident. Have you been keeping your room and workspace clean?”

 _Uh oh_.

Dragging him up by his shoulder, Shiro half-shoved Lance toward the hallway, smiling back dangerously over his shoulder. “Sorry, Keith, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“No problem at all, Shiro,” Keith replied back, distinctly smug. Lance tried to turn and scowl at him, but Shiro kept marching him forward and blocked him. “Take all the time you need.”

***

“So your plan sucked,” Pidge told him flatly, later that evening.

After dinner, the other three had basically shoved their way into his room, declaring it a ‘secondary inspection’, while Lance resisted the urge to throw things at them all. His room hadn’t even been that messy - his bed was unmade, sure, but who cared about that, and it was just a couple of things on the floor because, well, they were busy, okay? When you came back a mission days later and exhausted, you didn’t always feel like picking up whatever you’d dropped in your rush.

Shiro had still made a show of picking up every. Single. Thing. He’d then loudly ask Lance where this item was ‘supposed to live’, and watched with a smirk as Lance put it away. Then he did an actual Academy-style inspection of his bed, making sure it was made _properly_ , and Lance had wanted to scream the whole time.

“Like any of you could do better,” Lance grumbled back. “That one alien chick made him blush. It was a good plan!”

Snorting, Hunk arched a brow. “She was better than you at it. And you didn’t didn’t try to grope Shiro.” Lance paused, considering, and Hunk shook his head and crossed his arms in front of him. “Oh, no. You had your chance.”

“What, and you all have something better?” Lance demanded, scowling.

“Of course,” Keith replied easily, shoulders back and eyes bright. “Anything would be better than that. It was just sad.”

Lance leaned forward, practically baring his teeth at Keith. “You think so? Can’t wait to see how hard you fail.”

“Just watch! Tomorrow, at training.”

Hunk sighed and shook his head. “This was the worst idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's an alternate reality where Shiro marching Lance to his room ended very differently. Maybe someday I'll even be the one to write that. Five times the younger paladins tried to fuck with Shiro and he fucked them instead, apparently. It's not like I haven't already done fills on the Kink Meme. I might have to de-anon and start playing with that more here.
> 
> I don't know how universal 'where does this live?' is, but it's something my mom said a lot, and I have a knee jerk anxious reaction to it, even if I haven't heard it in years and years. I'm curious if anyone else did.


	3. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes: Blindfolds, grappling and a whole lot of groaning from everyone.

To say they were distracted during training was an understatement. Pidge, Hunk and especially Lance were keeping one eye on Keith, waiting for whatever he had planned. Shiro seemed to have figured out that he didn’t have their full attention, so he’d compensated but pushing them all the harder. They were all still panting from their latest bout with a gladiator when Keith finally spoke up.

“Shiro.” When Shiro glanced over, brows up in question, Keith seemed to hesitated for a moment, then pushed on. “I want to try something. Do you mind?”

Shiro nodded. “Sure, what were you thinking?”

Walking over to where he’d dropped his jacket, Keith pulled out two sets of blindfolds. “I’ve been practicing,” he said, by way of explanation. “I figured it’d be interesting practice to spar.”

“You’re such a nerd,” Lance groaned from where he was sprawled out flat on the ground.

Brow raising, Shiro eyed him. “Would you like to spar blindfolded instead?”

Lance shook his head, not even picking it up. “No thanks. You guys have fun. We can wait.” Next to him, Hunk nodded in breathless agreement.

Shrugging, Shiro took the blindfold and tied it on. Keith made to put on his own, but then pushed it up to his forehead like a headband. 

“No weapons,” Shiro declared, falling into a prepared stance. “Obviously.”

Keith didn’t answer, and just swung a kick at him instead. At first, Shiro didn’t seem to notice, but then he shifted out of the way, barely enough to avoid being glanced. He was frowning, but it looked more thoughtful than unhappy. And when Keith threw a punch, he knocked his fist out of the way and aimed a strike of his own, which Keith had to jump back to dodge, even without the blindfold.

Sitting up, Hunk made a face. “He really is unfair, isn’t he?”

The spar went on, and each side managed to get hits, though glancing ones. Keith was moving slowly and carefully, either to keep up the illusion that he was blindfolded as well, or that he just didn’t want to actually hurt Shiro. Shiro seemed to be keeping mostly on the defensive, letting Keith come after him and just striking when he didn’t have to move much.

Then, rather than go for another strike, Keith stretched his foot out behind Shiro’s ankle, just as he was taking a step back.

At the contact, Shiro froze, then shifted his balance forward and kicked up with the foot instead, knocking Keith’s out of the way. His metal arm reached back and snagged him around the ankle, then yanked up until Keith crashed to the floor, and only his shoulders and head could still reach the mat.

Pulling up the blindfold, Shiro stared down at him. “I’m going to assume the blindfold fell off when you landed.”

Keith scowled, and it a flash of temper, kicked out at his head. Shiro shifted, taking the blow with his shoulder instead, then grabbed his other foot and used both hands to hold him higher, until only the tips of his hair were touching the ground. “You’ve done this before,” Keith accused.

“Once on a dare,” Shiro replied. “And...” He blinked, for a second his eyes distant, then seemed to shrug it off. “Actually, the suits on the Kerberos mission had terrible vision. I spent a lot of my training for it practicing doing anything might need to with blinders on. Similar concept.” He finally dropped Keith, who grunted and rolled with the impact. “Now,” he clapped his hands with what seemed like relish. “Since we’ve all had a nice break, let’s get warmed up again. How about suicides?”

All four groaned. Pidge, Hunk and Lance all glared at Keith.

***

“I hate you,” Lance told Keith, voice completely sincere. “I hate you so much. And your plan was stupid. Whoop-de-doo he almost tripped. All that for such a lame gag.”

Keith snorted and didn’t bother to pick up his head from his bed. After dinner, they’d huddled up in his room, both to commiserate and lick their wounds. “It was just suicides,” he grumbled, but he couldn’t manage to make the dismissal sincere. “And it was your fault for starting all this.”

Nodding agreeably, Pidge stretched, then groaned. “Well, in that case, I hate you both.”

“That seems like the best option,” Hunk replied with false cheer. “Thanks for clearing that up, Pidge.” She nodded and raised a fist, and he knocked his into hers.

Crossing his arms, Keith groaned and went flat again. “As much as it hurts to say this, Lance has a point. It’s harder than it looks.”

“You’re just doing it wrong,” Hunk informed them. “You can’t just blunt force your way through it all.”

Lance and Keith shared a rare moment of total agreement, and it was that Hunk no idea what he was talking about. “Yeah? What are you going to do, then?”

Hunk just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shortest of the chapters. I promise they get longer after this, but, really, Keith was never going to do anything really serious. He's too protective of Shiro to give it a good go.
> 
> And yes, it's equally clear where this one could have gotten sexy. *finger guns* Still cooking on the other version of this. Mwahaha.
> 
> To those of you who have never had to perform the horror that is suicides: You lucky, lucky bastards. Even being badass Space Power Rangers With Robots wouldn't make suicides tolerable.


	4. Hunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Weird Al Voice] Eat It. Just eat it.

“Dinner!” Hunk announced cheerfully. His words caused a general cheer and clatter for the table.

As the other paladins passed, he waggled his brows behind Shiro’s back. They all paused for one second, and suddenly looked much more wary of the meal.

“Need a hand getting everything?” Shiro asked, as he took a seat. When he turned around to look, all the other paladins did their best to look totally innocent. He frowned, looking confused.

Shaking his head, Hunk flapped his hand. “Nah, it’s all set up on the plates. I just got distracted and didn’t set them out yet. One second!” He moved too quickly and his voice was just a touch too high and eager, but before he could be questioned, he darted back into the kitchen.

Shiro seemed to take it at face value, though, going back to his conversation with Allura. They had been deep in a discussion about language variations on their respective planets, though it was handicapped by the nigh-constant use of the translators built into the Castle of Lions. It turned out that Allura and Coran both heard any earth language as the standard Universal Common Language. Anyone from Earth could hear it when Shiro switched into Japanese as a test, but also had an understanding of what the words meant.

The realization had caused Lance to curse experimentally in Spanish, which prompted a second round of questions about the use of metaphor and culture in curses and why those didn’t translate, like how jargon didn’t. (It turned out, this was partially on purpose, as Coran was all too eager to explain).

Hunk was only gone for a few more minutes, but it was enough time for everyone to become thoroughly involved again. So at first, no one even looked twice at the plates.

Lance was the first to glance down. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth and turned red from holding back laughter. Shiro was facing away, still talking to Allura, so thankfully he didn’t see, but the others noticed and looked as well.

The main part of the dish was some kind of roll, wrapped in something that almost looked like a tortilla that was dyed a pale pink. It was drizzled in some kind of white sauce, though more of it just _happened_ to end up on the far end of the plate. Near the base were the sides, both served in handful-sized balls.

In short, it looked like a penis.

Brows up, Keith slowly glanced at Hunk, who went pink and shrugged. And, to be fair, Keith couldn’t really think of something better to make dinner shaped like to get a reaction.

Hunk slowly sat down, looking nervous as Shiro gestured with his fork rather than actually start eating. Keith stared steadfastly down at his plate, though he kept glancing up to watch as well. Pidge started to kick Lance’s shin to get him to stop looking like he was about to burst into cackles and ruin it all.

Then Shiro finally moved his fork to the plate. But he never looked at it full on, just broke off part instead of eating, eyes never leaving Allura’s face as she explained the difference between the high society dialect and the common one.

All four deflated in disappointment. Broken wide open like that, the contents of the would-be-burrito spilled out, ruining the effect.

“How interesting,” Allura finally commented, as she examined her food. Shiro went back to his own meal, but by that point the point was moot, and he didn’t seem to notice anything. “It’s contained?”

“Yeah,” Hunk replied, trying to sound cheerful instead of disappointed. “It’s based on- well, basically you can pick it up and eat it on the go. And it’s tasty. It can have a lot of different stuff inside, so they’re pretty versatile.”

Expression brightening, Allura paused, then picked hers up, careful to avoid touching the sauce. She considered it for a moment, then took a huge bite out of the center, pulling back not unlike a dog ripping meat off a bone.

Lance let out a quiet, pained sounding whimper. He was suddenly very pale as he crossed his legs.

***

When Pidge and Keith showed up to Hunk’s room later, Lance was already there. He was wrapped around a pillow as Hunk rolled his eyes and patted his back. “I’m going to see that in my nightmares,” he cried, burying his face deeper into the fabric. “I’m never going to have a good dream again without imagining Allura doing... _that_!”

“Some people are into that,” Pidge offered easily, sitting down hard next to him. Lance let out another groan and just curled up tighter.

Sighing, Hunk shot Pidge a quelling look, but she just shrugged in return. “It’s okay, man. I’m sure you’ll get past this.”

Leaning against the storage and mechanics that surrounded the bed, Keith arched his brow a Hunk. “Nevermind Lance’s nightly fantasies.”

“Hey!” Lance protested. “This is important. What if I can never get it up again?”

Pidge’s brow rose. “Sounds like a good thing to me.”

Shooting them all a betrayed look, lower lip wobbling dramatically, he slumped backward against the wall. “You’re all evil.”

“A penis?” Keith questioned, as if he’d never been interrupted. “That was your big idea? How is that not brute force?”

Hunk shrugged. “Well, my first thought was actually... like, taking the space goop, but seeing if I could get it to stay in balls with these little faces? Then they’d open their eyes and mouths and go-” He tilted his head up, like his head was the one on a plate. “ _Kiiiill meeee_.” His voice went raspy and high-pitched, like some kind of horrible sci-fi creation gone wrong. Then he snapped back into his normal posture and shrugged. “But I couldn’t figure out how to do it, and I panicked.”

All three stared at him. Even Lance picked up his head and stopped his dramatics. “I-” He muttered, clutching the pillow for a new reason.

“What the hell, Hunk?” Pidge whispered. 

Hunk frowned. “What?”

Shaking his head slowly, Keith let a low breath. “Okay. Um. I have no idea how to respond to that, so I’m just going to... ignore that. Is that okay with everyone?” When everyone nodded, he took a deep breath. “So, it’s Pidge’s job now, right?”

She paused. “What? Why?”

“We’ve all tried it,” Hunk pointed out. “It’s your turn.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to!” Pidge shot back. “It was fun to watch and all but I wasn’t gunna do anything.”

Knocking their shoulders together, Lance pouted at her. She stared back, unmoved. “C’mon, you have to have some kind of idea, right?”

Pidge frowned. “I mean, maybe. One or two. Nothing that thought out.”

“You might as well try,” Hunk shrugged. “After all this work we did, I want to see somebody succeed at it. And none of it has been really mean or hurtful. Just silly. So why not? Don’t you wanna see it?”

Pidge was still frowning, but it was significantly more thoughtful now. “Alright. No promises. But I can’t do worse than you guys.”

The chorus of cries that earned her only made Pidge smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk's original idea was actually what I was going to do, but, well, it would have worked. So that's no fun for the basis of the fic. I love the mental image, though.
> 
> Pidge tomorrow, then the plus ones. I may post them both at the same time, though they're honestly both pretty long compared to the rest of these... hm...


	5. Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Need a hand?

Pidge’s excuse, at least, was a perfectly valid one.

“Hey, Shiro?” He glanced over, wiping off the back of his neck with a towel. Training with the lions didn’t usually feel physical until they were out into fresh air and had a chance to really breathe. Pidge’s hair was stuck to her forehead from the helmet, which felt just disgusting. “I had a thought.”

Humming, Shiro shot her a smile. “Sounds dangerous.”

All he got in return was a toothy smirk. “It’s about your arm.”

Shiro froze, then curled the metal arm a little closer. The motion seemed instinctive, and for a moment Pidge was reminded of the footage she’d seen of him as the Champion, favoring the new and painful addition. “What about it?”

For just a moment, Pidge hesitated. None of them wanted to go too far and actually hurt Shiro. Just see him be a little more human and fallible like the rest of them. But this needed to be done, and what she had in store really wasn’t a problem. At least she hoped not. “I was looking through some more information on Galra technology and... And we don’t really know much about your arm, do we? I figured it’d probably be a good idea to figure out how it ticks a little better.”

Frowning, Shiro stared down at it. He curled in each finger, one at a time, like he was making sure it all worked like he thought it did. “Yeah,” he finally agreed, though he didn’t sound super happy about it. “It’s probably better to know, right?” He met her eyes again and drew himself up, and Pidge could just see him putting on his Good Soldier face. “You wanted to do this now?”

“No,” Pidge replied. “We need to get cleaned up. After?”

Shiro relaxed, subtly but noticeably. “Yeah. After.”

Catching sight of the others behind her, watching with curious stares, she bit back a sigh. “Oh, and Hunk needs to be there, too. He’s better with the mechanics anyway, so he’ll probably... yeah.”

Pausing, Shiro glanced over his shoulder at the others and gave a smile. It looked like it was supposed to be reassuring, but it was mostly just nervous, already recognizing that if two were going, he couldn’t expect the other two not to. “I don’t think this is going to be the most interesting team bonding in the world.”

Keith’s gaze softened as he met Shiro’s eyes. “I’d like to see. If you don’t mind. I want to understand.”

“If everyone else is going, I don’t want to be the only one who can’t come,” Lance said, arms crossed. But his expression and posture were hesitant, for him, and he looked like he’d back off if Shiro asked, no questions.

Glancing around, Shiro sighed. “It’s fine. Better that we all know, anyway.” Throwing the towel over his shoulder, he gave Pidge another glance. “Your workroom after?” When she nodded, he started for the door and waved over his shoulder, slipping out quietly.

There was a moment of silence, then Keith met Pidge’s gaze seriously. “You better know what you’re doing.”

“This isn’t- I was always going to do this.” Pidge shrugged. “We need to understand, and I think we have the technical experience to really know what we’re looking at, now. It might just be one extra thing. Nothing bad.” She frowned at him. “I wouldn’t.”

Keith stared at her, then nodded, if slowly. “Yeah. I know.” He sighed and nodded to them. “I’m gunna go clean up too.”

“We all should,” Hunk muttered, pulling off his headband and making a face at the collected sweat. Pidge suspected he was doing it to lighten the mood. “And if it’s not going well, we all stop and it’s over. Simple as that.”

Pidge hoped he was right.

***

It wasn’t quite an hour before they were all settled in the lab. Shiro had pulled over a chair and was resting his arm over a desk, a little quiet but otherwise alright. Having time to collect himself had probably done him good.

Pidge and Hunk had done their best to make the entire thing as cosy as possible. They’d pulled in cushions for the chairs and flooded the place with lights from a distance, so they could see without any spotlights, which had been declared too medical. Then they’d made sure the lights were a warm yellow, just to be as far from the Galra blackish-purple as possible.

The first hurdle was getting off the panels. They didn’t have quite the right tools, but a combination of them technically did the trick, with a little bit of extra physical effort.

Galra tech always made Pidge feel uneasy. It wasn’t even that it was what the enemy used, though that certainly didn’t help. Everything it touched seem to go... _wrong_. But it was also how organic it looked, like it was straight out of a sci-fi horror flick. It had never bothered her on screen, but in reality it was more disturbing than she would have guessed. With the cover off, the inside of Shiro’s arm looked like a cross-section of a pulpy piece of fruit, if fruit moved inside like that.

Grabbing a camera, Pidge carefully took a series of photos and videos, with Hunk holding a flashlight to make sure they could see inside properly. Just in case, it was best to have a before image, so they could put everything back. Without it and a bayard, there was only so much Shiro could do in hand to hand.

Then they got to work.

They took a few base-level scans, which matched what they’d always seen, even if they didn’t understand it well until they had more experience with the technology. Then they started to do more in depth testing, seeing what happened when they isolated certain parts, trying to make sure each bit had a function that they could detect.

At first, Keith and Lance stayed a bit of a distance away, watching but not crowding. But they must not have been able to see anything, or it was just too boring, because they started to creep closer as testing continued, until Keith was giving that too-intense stare he had, and Lance was asking ‘what’s that for?’ every few minutes.

Then Hunk started to keep up a constant commentary. Explaining the different parts and how they worked together, what wires when to where, what each test was designed to find. And that seemed to satisfy Keith and Lance, because they finally settled and seemed to be paying attention rather than getting in the way again.

And after a few minutes of it, Shiro started to relax, too. Pidge hadn’t even noticed how tightly wound he was until his shoulders settled back and his mouth and eyes lost their tension.

Glancing at Hunk from under her bangs, Pidge sent him a thankful smile. He shrugged and shot her a small one back.

In the end, there were a lot of things they didn’t understand about the arm, still. That included a few pieces of machinery that didn’t seem very connected to anything else, and Pidge was going to have to study the readings from them more closely.

“One more test,” she finally declared, meeting Hunk’s eyes again. He nodded in understanding and stepped back so she could work. “I’m gunna need a bit of participation on this one, sorry. You mind?”

Shiro shook his head, though he looked a little surprised at it. “It’s fine. I expected you to ask before this.”

Shrugging, Hunk handed the flashlight to Pidge when she gestured for it. “It was mostly just readings and getting a basic idea. Next time - er, if, but... yeah - then we’ll do more with you.”

This was a step above anything else they’d done that day, but it was still pretty easy to bypass one little machine and manually adjust the energy levels going through it. Hunk glanced down, and his brow furrowed as he picked up on what she was doing. “Alright, just... light it up, would you? I just want to make sure this worked.”

Shiro gave them a curious look, then nodded and activated his arm.

It lit up bright, cheerful red and green, the colors alternating every time Pidge switched the settings on and off. Pidge met his gaze blandly. “Merry Christmas.”

At first, Shiro only gaped at them and the arm. Then his natural hand shot up to clap over his mouth, but not before they could see his smile. When he spoke, his voice was mostly normal, though there was the slightest of a laugh buried in it. “I don’t know if it’s my style.”

“You’re right. Too festive.” With a few pressed buttons, the entire arm went a bright, fluorescent pink. “How’s this?”

Shiro finally dropped the hand, not bothering to hide his amusement at all. “I like it.” Leaning back more comfortably in his chair. “How long does this last?”

“It’ll only work while you’re hooked up,” Hunk replied. “We’re just changing the spectrum of light by controlling how much power goes through. Though, it is your color. And I bet Allura would like it.”

Nodding his understanding, Shiro clenched his fist, then let it go. “Too bad. It’s a nice change of pace.”

“Maybe they can make something,” Lance offered cheerfully. “Make it like a mood ring. Accessorize with your feelings.”

That made Shiro laugh outright, loud and sudden like it surprised him. “No way. I can’t let you guys know when you get to me. That’d ruin all my fun.” He didn’t look at any of them, still examining his hand from different angles, but the rest of them shared a look, wondering exactly how much he knew. “Alright, do I get my arm back now?”

“I suppose so,” Pidge replied, pulling the rest of the equipment out. While she set up analytics, Hunk took worked on getting the casing back in place. “If you’re Mr. Busy Leader.”

Shiro just grinned. “More like Mr. Hungry Leader. I don’t think any of us ate after practice.” Oh, right. Food. Pidge had forgotten about that. Boring. She made a face, and Shiro rolled his eyes but smiled, using his natural hand to ruffle her hair. When the casing was finally set back in place, he clapped Hunk on the shoulder as well. “Alright, you have fun, but please eat something before too long.”

With that and a last wave to Lance and Keith, Shiro slipped out. His steps were lighter, easier, less like he was walking to his own torture than when he’d come in. 

Watching him go, Pidge, glanced at the others. “Good enough?”

“Yeah,” Keith replied. “Good enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "But, BT", you hypothetically ask for the sake of my notes. "That's not how you do this. You said the last one is the angsty one! This wasn't that bad at all."
> 
> Oh, you poor, hypothetical soul.
> 
> There are still two more left. And there is no mercy in my soul.
> 
> : )


	6. Galra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro's 'fans' continue to cause problems. Much like a normal fandom.

Groaning, Lance sat up and scrubbed at his head. It ached, and he was bleeding sluggishly from a scrape on his face. But all in all, he’d fared pretty damn well for someone who had been blown up. Again. Seriously, how many times was that going to happen?

This time, their friendly welcome from the local people had been all a ruse. They’d been played for idiots, enjoying the welcomes and excuses and accepting the odd behavior as just a cultural difference, right until they’d walked to a room filled to the brim with Galra soldiers.

They’d been thrown into a dungeon, apparently to wait for... something. There was some kind of plan involving a particular energy field on this moon, combined with reinforcements and blah blah blah. What Lance got from it was that they were hoping they could use all that somehow to break through the lion’s defenses and get in without needing a special pilot. Like it would do anything, since without the lions to guide them, who the hell knew how the fly the things. But apparently the leader wasn’t in the loop on space lion technology, more fool him.

Lance got the feeling he didn’t really care about the lions, though, except that they’d get him favor. He seemed to just want to mess with them. The damn sadist.

He’d been proving that for the past hour, once he dragged Shiro out and started to interrogate him. He hadn’t even bothered to take off Shiro’s helmet, apparently less interested in actually learning more about, well, anything, and more in getting to lord his power over _The Champion_.

Really, they needed to host a convention for all of Shiro’s Galra ‘fans’. So they could nuke it from space and be rid of them all.

So they’d had the absolute pleasure of listening to every nasty thing the leader had to say, all the crap he dredged up. And Shiro seemed to be trying to let it run off him, though he’d occasionally have one of those long, unresponsive pauses that characterized a flashback.

They, on the other hand, had been left mostly unattended. They’d been stripped of their weapons and then shoved away in a room that was way too much like a dungeon for Lance’s taste. Then they’d been left to rot.

At least that had meant they’d been able to talk back in peace. It had been Keith who had started it, contradicting one of the nastier comments. “You didn’t have a choice. He’s an idiot.”

Then Pidge had jumped in after that. “The only monster here is his ego. How long do you think it takes him to groom all that fur?”

“Imagine how much shampoo he uses,” Hunk had wondered.

Lance barked out his own laugh, though it was strained. “And all the kibbles he goes through. Keeps his nose wet and his pelt shiny.”

Of course, that hadn’t been all they were doing. There was only one window to the outside of the castle in their dungeon-thing, far too high up for any of them to reach on their own. But Pidge on Hunk’s shoulders had no problem, and she’d helped pull them up one by one as they climbed up the wall. Lance had been the last one to scramble up, and they’d only had a chance to hear the end of a comment about ‘failing to protect them’ before the bomb had gone off.

So, technically, they hadn’t been in the room, or even the building, but it had been a hell of a force anyway. Enough to knock them all out for a bit and to leave Lance feeling sympathetic to a pinball.

Lance turned and nudged the person closest to him - Hunk, as it turned out. He stirred and groaned, but came to easily enough. Across the room, Pidge was already picking herself up, looking like she’d been through a tornado, and she reached down to help Keith pull himself to his feet.

And it was about that point that they realized how quiet Shiro had gotten.

The tiny voice of the leader ranted on, but now Shiro seemed to have no responses or quips for him. No stubborn speeches. Nothing.

“Shiro?” Hunk called, frowning. There was no response, no static or feedback to prove the sound was getting through at all. He pulled off his helmet and examined it. “Hey, Shiro! I’m not... there’s nothing wrong with the microphone that I can tell....”

Face pale, Lance tried next. “Shiro, we’re okay. Can you- No, he should have been able to hear any of us speaking from these. They’re so sensitive.”

Pidge tapped the side of the helmet in thought. “There might have been some kind of signal to the bomb that’s jamming us. One way, apparently.” 

“Well then, let’s go,” Keith replied. The window they’d came out of was still spewing smoke, so it probably wasn’t the best way in. “We’ll find him and-”

 _”No._ ” 

Lance froze, brow furrowed. At first he wasn’t sure who had contradicted Keith, since for once it was a plan he agreed with entirely. Then he realized that rasp had been Shiro.

“ _No no no no no..._ ” It was barely recognizable as Shiro’s voice. It sounded like it was forcing it’s way out of him, like he was being strangled and he still somehow managed to talk. It sounded like he was dying.

They all shared a look. Then they started to run.

The leader was saying something, but it wasn’t audible as words over Shiro’s loud, panted breathing. Lance kept trying, because, hell, he had no idea what else to do. “Shiro, buddy, we’re okay. We can hear you, we’re coming, we-” He paused as they came to the entrance way and Keith kicked it down, barely stopping at all. It was only the natives - the damn _traitors_ \- who were there, and if any of them had thought to stop them, they probably stopped at their expressions. Pidge alone looked ready to tear apart anyone who stopped her with her bare hands, and Hunk made for an intimidating figure when he wasn’t smiling and cooking. Keith always had that not-quite-controlled air to him and Lance...

Well, Lance was just _mad_.

Spotting the one who had handed them over, Keith stalked over and grabbed him by the front of his stupid goddamn robes. “Weapons. _Now_.”

Shaking, he pointed them in the right direction, and they were armed again.

Now the problem was that they had no idea what room Shiro was in.

“They’re dead, Champion,” the leader damn near purred, sounding so satisfied with himself. The bastard. “They’re dead because you failed to protect them. You were never meant for this. You were meant to destroy, not protect. Why did you even pretend?”

Hunk barrelled into the first closed door they found, knocking it clean of its hinges. No Shiro, but the few soldiers inside were easy pickings, shocked as they were, and they were quickly taken care off, as were the few guard patrols they found.

“You killed them,” Shiro murmured, sounding... young. The age they knew he technically was, even if it was hard to think of him that way. Only a couple of years older than them. 

The leader laughed, seeming to enjoying the pain in his voice. “No, Champion. You killed them. I merely gave the order, but you were the one who failed them.”

“ _You killed them_ ,” Shiro repeated, and it wasn’t in a voice Lance recognized at all. It was too rough, too angry, too wounded. Like an animal back into a corner.

Lance had the wild, hysterical thought that the Galra leader had got what he wanted. He was talking to The Champion now, not the paladin.

There was a horrible, scrapping shattering sound in the hallway, echoed in the helmets a split second later. All four bolted in the direction it had came, running as fast as they could. Then there was the sound of shrieking, breaking metal and a scream. A furious, animalistic noise that was only barely in Shiro’s voice. Lance pulled off his helmet, just so he didn’t have to keep hearing it twice.

He never, ever wanted to hear anyone sound like that again.

The door the noises were coming from was closed, but Lance shot it open before they were close enough to touch the handle. Inside, there was a gasping, gurgling noise, then a thump. And then silence.

“Shiro!” Keith cried, bursting through the door. Then he froze, nearly causing the rest of them to barrel into his back.

The stone wall next to them had been sliced and shattered, a huge gouge carved into it. A chain hung severed from one steel plate, but the other one was gone entirely, thrown halfway across the room.

Next to the body of the leader, who was missing the majority of his face and throat.

On the opposite side of them was Shiro. He was splattered with Galra blood, and the remains of the handcuffs were still dangling from both wrists. The metal hand was twisted and gnarled and the fingers seemed like they’d been crushed. At first, Lance wondered how he’d missed the sound of Shiro being tortured, but then he realized that he must have used the metal hand to carve himself free of the wall.

And he wasn’t reacting at all.

“Shiro,” Keith repeated, this time barely more than a whisper. “Are you-” He cut off abruptly.

‘Are you okay?’ was a stupid question, right now.

Shiro twitched but didn’t pick his head up. Instead he started to shake it, murmuring under his breath, and even with the microphone right there, Lance didn’t think it was coherent enough for anyone to understand. He didn’t seem to be seeing anything at all, when they could manage to see his eyes. Or if he was, it was somewhere far away and probably months in the past. A shiver seemed to wrack through him and his breath picked up, coming too fast and shallow. 

A quick glance at Hunk showed he was staring in horrified sympathy, mouth covered by his hand. Normally Lance liked to rely on Hunk for emotional stuff, since he was much better at not causing more problems than he solved. But Hunk didn’t look like he knew what to do.

Well, neither did Lance, not really. But he did know a thing about panic attacks. The ones he’d gotten as a kid, and they kind he’d looked up since starting all this. Keith and Pidge had their way of helping - he had his.

He moved closer, though he stayed just barely out of arm’s reach. He didn’t think Shiro would hurt him on purpose, but he might if he was startled, and it was better for everyone if that possibility wasn’t even on the table. “Hey. Shiro, c’mon. It’s okay, we’re here. Can you pick up your head for me? Just for a second.”

Finally, the words seemed to get through to him, and Shiro’s head came up. The grief on his face, the way his expression was twisted and the wet shine of smear tears on his cheeks, made Lance flinch away. It was terrifying, honestly. Not because of what Shiro had done in it (Lance honestly appreciated that), but he wasn't sure what it meant to be so important to someone that wasn't related to him by blood. Especially when they were all living such a dangerous life. 

Shiro stared at them without seeming to really see them, but he did focus on Lance, probably because he was still speaking. “It’s okay, just breathe with me. You need to breathe, dude, we’re not that good yet. C’mon, match with me. Just some timing. In... okay, now hold... and out...” He repeated that for a solid minute, convincing Shiro to match him breath for breath, before he seemed to finally blink himself into awareness, and he glanced at them with new recognition.

“You... you’re not...? But you...”

Pidge shook her head and kneeled by his other side, Hunk and Keith following just a second after. “We had already gotten out of the room went it blew, it just knocked out the communication systems on the helmets. We were never hurt.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lance joked, because it was that or cry. “I got cut, that counts. And it wasn’t fun, either, to get bl-” his words cut off mid sentence as Shiro suddenly reached out and grabbed him, pulling him close. His other hand reached for Pidge, who happily met him halfway, and soon they were all pressed against Shiro, being hugged and inspected.

Up close like this, Lance could see the tear tracks on Shiro’s cheeks, and could see the way water was building up in his eyes again. Shiro pulled back enough to see all of Lance’s face, running his natural thumb over his cheek, inspecting the cut. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, voice choked.

“It’s not your fault,” Keith told him. His hands had gripped at the front of Shiro’s armor, and if it had been cloth, he would have been clinging to his shirt. “It’s _not_.”

Shiro didn’t reply, just pulling Keith into a tight hug next, and then one for Hunk. That one turned into how they helped Shiro get to his feet. The metal arm wasn’t quite useless, but it seemed to be out of proper alignment, throwing off his gait. And Shiro didn’t seem to be interested in stepping away, and more occupied with keeping a hand on at least one of them at all times. His face was still edged with grief, but there was awe here now, like he’d touched on something he’d never thought he’d have.

Swallowing hard, Lance took the front and held his weapon out. They were unbothered as they left, any remaining Galra left smart enough not to confront them and any natives not stupid enough to stop them.

As they got to the lions, Lance mused that they’d all been idiots.

They’d officially seen Shiro be off his game. And he had no idea why they’d ever thought they wanted this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day I will write out the sort of industry/economy that the gladiator fights must work on, because you cannot tell me someone didn't monetize the crap out of it.
> 
> So, a note: I've started writing the NSFW version of this (which will be limited to the members of the team, and will probably just be tie-ins to chapters 2-5, unless I get struck for serious inspiration for something else).
> 
> Tomorrow's will be a follow up to this, and then we're done. After that I'll start posting the alternate chapters in a separate 'sequel'.


	7. Shiro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attack of the Corbbles

It had taken a solid week for things to calm down. They were all deeply rattled, either from near death experiences or fear for each other. Shiro especially had hovered, and while he’d regained something of his normal control, it was shaky and not nearly convincing as usual, which just made the rest of them all the more jittery.

It was, Pidge realized, a bit like Shiro was gravity. You didn’t notice it until it was gone, then you realized how much you’d always relied on it. They all needed stability in their lives, and they hadn’t questioned that it came from Shiro.

The lead up to fixing Shiro’s arm had also been a problem, as Shiro just got quieter and jumpy as the date came. At first, they’d thought the best option was to keep him awake and talk him through it like last time, but when he’d seen the tools and machinery, he’d gone pale and quiet, and that made the decision for them.

So they’d sedated Shiro. Thankfully, everything that needed replacing they could either machine or replace with something similar. The whole thing had only taken a few hours, with all the prep they’d done.

After, he’d seemed genuinely better, rather than the fake version of himself they’d been getting. Shiro was more together (literally and figuratively), and he seemed to have mostly accepted that everyone was alive and safe and weren’t going to collapse dead the second he took his eyes off them. So he relaxed, and then so did everyone else.

Then, a miracle happened.

“Is he asleep?” Hunk murmured, eyes wide.

Brow furrowed, Pidge turned around, not sure who Hunk was referring to.

Shiro was sprawled out on the couch of the rec room, his natural arm tucked under his head and the metal one hanging over the side. His face was half pressed into a pillow, mouth open as he breathed deeply enough that it was nearly a snore.

Mouth falling open, Pidge returned Hunk’s amazed stare.

This was unprecedented. Pidge was fairly certain that most nights Shiro didn’t sleep at all, much less in front of anyone else. The sedation just the other day was the closest Pidge had ever seen to Shiro being naturally asleep.

There was a moment of shared awe, and then both dove for their phones to take a picture.

Pidge only had the chance to take a couple of photos before the door opened, and Lance walked in, followed closely by Keith. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation, and his voice was loud in the otherwise peaceful room. “So I said-”

With impressive reflexes, Hunk grabbed one of his pens and threw it at Lance’s head. It bounced off, making him fall silent in sheer shock. When he turned his head to stare in wounded disbelief, Hunk raised a finger to his lips, then pointed to the couch.

Brow furrowed with growing temper, Lance leaned over the top and glanced down. At first he started to open his mouth, then seemed to realize exactly what he was looking at. Flailing back, he caught Keith’s jacket and gestured toward Shiro, movement erratic and excited. Keith rolled his eyes, but didn’t try and pry Lance’s hand off of him, even when he was dragged toward the table. 

Lance grabbed one of their notebooks, filled with sketches and notes on Rover 2.0 and a smaller device that could let Shiro change his arm’s color at will, then frantically scribbled a note and shoved it back. _’WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?_

 _’Like 2 minutes ago’_ Pidge wrote back. Grinning, Hunk pulled out his phone and waggled it. 

Returning the grin, Lance yanked the notebook back. _’Do you still have photoshop on your computer?’_.

Keith leaned over Lance’s shoulder to read what he’d written, then elbowed him. Scowling, Lance elbowed him right back, and the two went back and forth with that until Hunk threw another pen at them and they reluctantly subsided.

Chin resting on his palm, Lance’s lips twisted in what was just shy of a pout, and he gestured between them and around. Only long exposure let any of them know he meant _‘what do we do now?’_

Hunk considered, then pulled out a roll of schematics paper. Once there was a piece long enough to nearly cover the table, he tore it off, then place a handful of pens and markers of various colors on the table. He offered them a hopeful smile.

There was a scramble for the colors as they all started to draw.

Eventually, the individual doodles came together into a group project. Pidge sketched out the nearest planets and they had fun making up what kinds of aliens lived on each and what they looked like. With the exception of the Balmera, of course, because Lance reached across the table to draw a rough picture of Shay, and then surrounded it with yellow colored hearts until Hunk shoved him back into his seat.

Keith was the one who had started to draw the little fluffy ball-creatures, and Pidge and Hunk had immediately latched onto them for looking like tribbles, and soon there was a small army of them spilling over onto the other planet’s spaces until they were fierce invaders.

Then Lance had started to add Coran-style mustaches to them all, and it had gotten a little silly. The majority of the space had been taken up by ‘Corbbles’ when a noise caused them all to pause in their otherwise mostly-silent play. Glancing around, it was quickly obvious where it was coming from.

Shiro wasn’t sprawled out anymore, but curled in on himself, defensive and small. His dreams must have taken a turn for the worst, because every once in awhile he would murmur, quiet for now but growing louder and more nervous. Only one word out of every few was understandable. “No... don’t... alone.”

Keith made to stand, but Hunk reached out and grabbed his arm, shaking his head. And he was proven right a moment later when Shiro burst awake with a gasp, twisting himself up to his feet and lighting his arm in the same violent movement. Had anyone been too close...

Well, it was a good thing no one was, that was all.

For a moment, Shiro didn’t seem to notice them, panting and tense like otherwise he’d start to shake. Then reality set it, and he turned to see all four of them staring at him, still poised with their markers and drawings.

He sagged all at once, pale and wide-eyed. “I-” Shiro swallowed and worked his hand, like he was trying to come up with an explanation other than the obvious for waking up terrified. “Shit.”

Meeting Shiro’s eyes, Pidge swallowed. “Was it, you know...” She gestured vaguely at herself, leaving ‘Kerberos’ and ‘the mission’ left unsaid. It could be something else, but she’d heard him say ‘alone’, and, well...

Waking up terrified must have loosened Shiro’s tongue, because he just shook his head. “No. Sometimes, but not-” He pressed his lips together, catching himself a bit too late. 

Hunk took a deep breath and looked like he wanted to say something, then shook his head and clearly changed his mind. “You wanna sit with us for a bit?” He gave a half smile and pushed out with his feet, kicking a chair toward Shiro. “You look like you should sleep more, but... well, we could use your expertise.”

Brows up curiously, Shiro visibly hesitated, but his curiosity (or maybe his desire not to go back to sleep) won out, and he settled down cautiously. His brows furrowed at the odd map and drawings they had created. “For what, exactly?”

Picking up on Hunk’s plan, Lance drew an arrow toward the bulk of the Corbble Army. “We have an enemy fleet closing in on us. The Corrbles have superior and growing numbers. And Space Lasers.”

“That’s Lance’s fault,” Keith told him, voice deadly serious. “He drew them that way.”

Lance pouted at him. “Well they were too small for Space Battle Axes, so I had to give them something else.”

“They’ve already taken over Planet Dinosaur and began mining for their supply of badass,” Pidge remarked, pointing to the planet in question. “The poor raptors will never be the same. We have to help them, and then Hunk will fall in love with one.”’

Groaning, Hunk slumped forward. “I hate all of you.”

Shiro slowly relaxed, lips curling up at their antics. “Well,” he drawled, dragging the word out as he thought. “This planet... uh, Planet Reptilians...” He paused, fighting off a smile. “Oh, that’s where they’re from? Useful knowledge. Well, it’s a strategic location between the two bulks of their forces, so we could splinter their forces and take them out that way.

The discussion continued, and quickly they were in an argument over if Space Lasers trumped the castle’s defenses.

“We take lazer fire all the time,” Pidge complained. “Why are their lasers so good?”

Lance huffed. “Duh, they’re Space Lasers. We get hit by regular lasers. Keep up.”

“But they’re lasers. In space. So they’re space lasers.” Hunk crossed his arms. “You just don’t want to admit you drew a stupid weapon.”

“They’re not stupid!”

Keith had given up on trying to fight Lance, and instead he was staring at Shiro, head tilted slightly. Finally, he spoke up. “It was us, wasn’t it?” When Shiro glanced at him, brow furrowed, he continued. “In your dream, I mean.”

Shiro froze, so suddenly that it was obvious Keith had hit the nail on the head. At first, Pidge was surprised Keith had been the one to figure it out, but while he wasn’t always the best with other people, he did know Shiro. Possibly the best out of all of them.

Running a hand over his face, Shiro seemed to struggle with himself, then shrugged. The fight seemed to drain out of him. “It had to be a scare, right? To come in and see... what I did.”

Lance frowned. “I mean, hearing it wasn’t a picnic, but it’s not like...” The implications seemed to hit him all at once, and he sat up straight. “You think we’re scared of you because you killed that soldier? How many times have we all done that?”

Frowning back, Shiro tried to make eye contact, but it slid away. “Not usually like that. And not like how I...” He gestured vaguely with the metal hand. “You heard it all.”

“You were upset,” Hunk replied quietly. “It was worse to hear you think we were dead than anything else. Honestly, did you think we were going to leave or something?”

His tone implied it was supposed to be ridiculous, but Shiro just looked down, shoulders tense again.

“It’d be stupid to leave for something like that, and we’re not going to,” Keith told Shiro, voice hard and serious. “You were upset for us. And if you think we’re scared of what you’re like after, it sounds like a good reason for us to stay safe and hang around, right?”

Lance crossed his arms stubbornly. “Like you can get rid of us that easily. You have to do a lot worse than to scare us.”

Eyes slowly tracking up, Shiro stared. “And if I have?”

Exchanging a glance with Keith, Pidge reached out and gently rested a hand on Shiro’s arm. “Worse than that, too. Please just trust me, okay? We get it. But we’re still here, aren’t we?”

The metal arm curled a little closer and Shiro stared at all of them, eyes wide. Then, finally, he nodded. “Okay. Guess I can’t argue with that.” He blushed, just a hint of color on his cheeks, and the smile he gave back was small and almost young. The quiet, vulnerable version of the one they usually got to see.

Silence hung between them for a moment, then Hunk clapped his hands. “Okay, the Corbble army can wait another day. I think we earned a movie.”

Pidge rolled up the paper and nodded. “Yeah, this is a good day for it. And Keith still hasn’t seen like three quarters of the movies I brought.”

“The hell, dude. How did you even survive Earth?” Lance questioned, brow raised.

“I survived just fine,” Keith shot back. “Better than you.”

Holding up a hand, Shiro sighed. “C’mon, let’s not get started. A movie sounds good. But I should-”

Pidge held up a finger, stopping Shiro mid sentence. “Name one thing you have to get done tonight that can’t wait till morning.” When Shiro didn’t answer, she dropped the finger but caught his eye seriously. “You don’t have to stay. Movie time isn’t required by law.” She ignored Lance’s muttered ‘but it should be’. “But don’t make excuses, okay? We get it. You know we get it, or at least some. So don’t act like it’s a huge shame that you’re human, okay?”

“Okay,” Shiro replied, voice contrite, though he looked a little amused. “I feel like I just got one of my own pep talks, honestly.”

Keith’s brow rose. “Less fun that way, huh?”

“I don’t know, it does have its charms.” He smiled, then glanced at Pidge. “Do you have anything from the past year?”

Smiling, Pidge pulled out a tech pad, and they all glanced through her selection, trying to find one movie they all agreed on (an impossible goal if there ever was one).

And later, when they were all bundled together on the couch and Shiro slumped sideways, openly drowsing, no one minded. It was trust and vulnerability and humanity rolled into one, and that was all they’d been trying to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my favorite of the chapters, fun fact. I also have to imagine that the Corbbles start turning up _everywhere_ after this, much to Coran's confusion.
> 
> Relevant point: I will personally fight everyone who claims Shiro won't curse. He might hold back to be a good example, but the dude's career military. If Voltron didn't take place in The Future (tm) I would be willing to bet money he knows the entire Navy SEAL copy pasta by heart.
> 
> Secondly, I have officially #LetSpaceDadRest. It didn't go well. Oops.
> 
> Remember that I start posting the NSFW version tomorrow, so if you're interested, I suggest you either keep checking in or subscribe for more soft porn.
> 
> Have a request? I'm on Tumblr as Bosstoaster, and I'd love to hear it! I'm always looking for new ideas and prompts.


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